Northern had to win their conference tournament to get to the NCAA and they hit a buzzer beater in that one, but it was a shot from in the lane.
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Four of those six ACC teams will play in separate Sweet Sixteen games on Friday, and three are favored to advance. The teams meet Friday in the Midwest Regional. Villanova lost to #8 North Carolina State, giving me an 8. Each has shown flashes of its capability, but neither has fully blossomed. The least-respected No. 1 seed will fly right past if you do. Top-seeded Kansas is a 6.5 point pick over Maryland. How many ACC teams will make the Elite 8?
More basketball is being played. To beat Kansas, the whole lineup needs to be firing on all cylinders. It’s very possible. The Cyclones have signature wins against Kansas and Oklahoma and shoot extremely well at 50.3%.
Stanford has the most hard challenge in the regional semis, facing No. 1 seed Notre Dame. Gonzaga also took care of business in a more impressive matchup, defeating the 3-seed Utah Utes by double digits. But they have left room for doubt. Villanova, which is Miami’s opponent, has plenty of weapons.
But things get much tougher against Miami (Fla.) on Thursday. Will Duke players have time to acclimate to the three-hour difference?
With the exception of an upset loss to Seton Hall in the finals of the Big East Tournament, all of the Wildcats’ five losses have come against ranked teams. If Hield keeps scoring in high volume, it’s tough to see Oklahoma losing. They have taken out 10 teams that made this field. Kentucky arguably deserved a higher seed, and a team recruited and coached by John Calipari is always among the favorites to go to the Final Four. Is it the team that dominated early in the year, or the one that limped in down the stretch? The Spartans were a No. 7 seed that peaked and outplayed better seeds because the talent was there all along and the chemistry finally was ideal.
Middle Tennessee looked as inept against Syracuse on Sunday as it did dominant against Michigan State. Jim Boeheim will need a similar spark to get to the Elite Eight.
But if Cinderella has a flaw, it’s that she’s usually good for one shining first-round moment and that’s pretty much it.
Following the first game it will be the Gonzaga Bulldogs versus the Syracuse Orange. “We only started with five to begin with”, said Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer. “That’s who we’ve been”.
“It’s awesome for the Pac-12 to have four teams in the Sweet 16”.
Expect nothing but fireworks between the North Carolina Tar Heels and Indiana Hoosiers Friday. The Hurricanes won one of three games against Virginia this season.
It would be the second time in eight years that the ACC has won back-to-back National Championships. Allen has been phenomenal all season. But can Duke win with a 6½-man roster?
The ACC has Miami, Virginia, Notre Dame, Duke, Syracuse and North Carolina.
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North Carolina sits fifth in RPI with an adjusted offensive efficiency of the same ranking.
